IT Matters

As we come to the end of the semester we just wanted to reflect a little on our short blogging experience. We would like to thank those who visited our site and hope that you enjoyed reading our blogs as much as we enjoyed writing them.  Without our followers, it would have been for nothing.  This has been a great experience for us as a team.

We would like to share with you that our posts had over 560 views, from 8 different countries. We were very excited when we looked at the countries of some of our viewers.  Not only did we have over 469 views from the United States, we had 47 from France, 25 from Poland, 12 from China, 3 from the Philippines, we even had viewers from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.  When we started this blog as a team, we never thought of where our viewers would come from.  We hope that we provided some useful and interesting topics that would benefit those who visit our BlogSpot. 

We touched on IT topics ranging from internet safety, cell phones and privacy, Technology laws, to different types of computing with thin clients, and the Cloud. We offered information on software and the applications we can use when you’re ready to get married like the wedding planning app.  We even showed how to use Linked In.

 Hopefully we have been able to provide insight about the ever changing world of technology and how with those changes come potential problems you don’t even think of. We have really enjoyed sharing our passion for technology and hope we have convinced you how much IT Matters.  

Again, thanks for making this a great experience for all of us.  Please continue to visit our blogs, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them and we will try to answer in a timely manner.

Eric, Jessa, Jeff

Remember To Keep Safe

We are coming to the end of our semester and I want to reiterate some of the important information I posted in previous blogs.  Remember technology is here to stay and we need to pay attention to the laws being passed so that our freedoms are not being jeopardized.

            Look for ways that you, as a user, can protect your privacy, but be careful of the apps, especially free apps that claim they will protect you.  Do your research on the companies or individuals designing these programs.  If we are to enjoy the technology available to us, each of us needs to do our part to protect each other.  Take the time to create a unique password for all of your accounts and not have one for all.  Change them often, especially if one has been shared, even with a friend.  Not that you can’t trust them, it’s to protect yourself.  Keep your programs updated, there are patches in them that can keep hackers out.  Have a good antivirus program. Only visit sites that are secured, remember https sites the ‘s’ on the end stands for secure.  There is an add-on that will safeguard you and tries to direct you to an https site called HTTPS Everywhere.   You can download and install this free add-on at https://eff.org/https-everywhere for Chrome, Firefox, and Firefox for Android and Opera.

Make sure to familiarize yourself with the types of viruses and the devastation they can cause businesses and YOU!!  Computer viruses are capable of attaching themselves to disks or files.  Viruses can replicate themselves destroying data on any device.  They can be disguised as a legitimate program, email, or even a message from a friend.  They can be worms, horses, bombs, emails, or even drive bys.  Sometimes they even pop up as a legit security program a company wants you to buy, saying you have a bunch of infected files on your computer.  Just be careful what you download and do research from a company before you download from the Internet.  These viruses and the delivery methods used not only affect our computers but can affect all of the devices we have even your web connected printer.

Watch for the laws that are being presented and do what you can to help keep our private information just that, private.  We want to enjoy the technology that is available to us without having to worry about who is collecting our information and what they might do with it.  Remember when I said ; there are those who say if you are not doing anything wrong, why does it matter?  If a peeping tom is looking at you through a window and you are not doing anything wrong, does it matter? Pretty creepy! It is not the collection of the information that is a problem; it is what’s done with that information, and how it is interpreted. All citizens in America deserve to be safe, but law abiding citizens should be able to know, the information they provide companies, stays private.   It’s up to you to ensure that the laws that are being reformed eliminate inconsistency in interpretation.

With new technology and different methods of obtaining information on civilians, the means of interpreting these aging laws are left in the hands of the courts. The laws need reforms reflecting the new technology to eliminate inconsistency in interpretation. Laws need to reflect the rapid changes in technology.

New technology has brought us a long way in just a short period of time.   Make sure you are safe out there with all of it and let’s enjoy the ride.

Posted By: Jeff Trangsrud

Protect Yourself, Nobody Else Will

In my previous blogs, I probably sound like I might have trust issues going on and maybe I do, but that’s another blog.  Let me tell you this time, how you can protect yourself when using this new technology.

There is so much we do online with our phones, laptops, home desktops, even computers at school.  We are using wireless everywhere we go.  We know, or at least we trust whoever installed our wireless networks at home, but as we travel along on our daily routines we are using public networks to connect to the internet.  We are staying connected all day long.  Something to keep in mind is to remember, anyone who goes online can get hacked.

I did some research on what you can do to keep your online internet jaunts more secure.  Here are a few:

1.       Don’t share your passwords.  This means using the same password for all of your accounts, banking, social media email, etc….  I know these sounds like a pain, but trust me it will save you a big hassle if a hacker gets ahold of your password and can use it for everything related to you.  Passwords should be different for all of your accounts, if you have a hard time doing that, make sure your email password is very unique and secure because for most of us it is our lifeline and if they get that, they could reset all of your other accounts.  

2.       Remember to change your passwords and make them long.  At the University of Northern Iowa, we use a passphrase, which is a long password.  Hackers are looking for that simple combination of birthdates, kids’ names, pet names or whatever.  There are software packages out there that can scan a large number of passwords to find what can work.  The length is more important than the complexity.

3.       Keep your system and programs updated. The most abused programs by hackers are Acrobat PDF reader, Microsoft and Java.  The updates or new releases often times contain patches that can keep the hackers out.  Programs could contain malware that give the hacker a door to get to your computer, so if you have old programs that you don’t use, uninstall them.

4.       Make sure to have a good antivirus program.  There are a lot of good antivirus programs out there, and a good free one that is recommended is Microsoft Security Essentials.  I protects you from spyware, malware, and viruses

5.       Make sure you only visit secured sites.  Have you ever, or did you know that when you visit a site with “http” it not secure?  Look for the sites that have “https” the “s” at the end stands for secure.  There is an add-on that will safeguard you and tries to direct you to an https site called HTTPS Everywhere.   You can download and install this free add-on at https://eff.org/https-everywhere for Chrome, Firefox, and Firefox for Android and Opera.

6.       Be careful of what you download.  Remember there is no such thing as free, More than likely if it is at a discount or free it probably has some sort of malware in it.  Try to buy it conventionally or through the manufacturer’s website, not through links.

7.       Be alert of what apps you put on your phone.  Whatever you may think is a good deal for only 99 cents could have been designed by a hacker anywhere in the world.  Stick to only reputable app stores for the platform your phone uses, and even then be cautious.  Just don’t download an app just because it’s free, use the Google Play store for apps. Never, ever click on the box in ‘settings’ that allows the installation of settings from unknown sources.

I hope that these can make you start to think about how you might be vulnerable to hackers.   Do everything you can to protect your personal accounts and your identity.

Be safe out there!!!!

Posted By: Jeff Trangsrud

WSJ. D Tech Conference

Last week many of the big names in technology gathered in Laguna Beach, California for the annual Wall Street Journal Tech Conference. The conference included over 200 attendees from 21 countries. There were various speakers and roundtable discussions led by select CEO’s and up and coming entrepreneurs to talk about technology's biggest issues and breakthroughs. I’ll summarize a few of the discussions below.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook spoke opening night. He talked a little about Apple Pay; some retailers may be hesitant to cooperate, but Cook thinks they will come around when they start to realize how easy, private and secure it is. He reassured everyone that he has full confidence in Apple Pay and that we will soon see it take off. He was then asked about the not yet launched Apple watch. How is the battery life? Will it die halfway through the day while I’m wearing it? Cook is confident that the battery life will be adequate but that you will use the watch so much it will need to be charged every night. He also addressed Apple’s security, saying that they try to keep our data as private as possible by not reading our emails, iMessages, or keeping any of it. The iOS 8 has added encryption to help with keeping user’s data private.

Jake Ma, executive chairman of Albaba Group and richest man in China talked a little bit about his company’s past and its future. He said he originally got his inspiration from Silicon Valley. He loved the feeling of being there and seeing how hard everyone works. Now, many years later, he says he loves coming to these things and reinvesting in the Silicon Valley. One of his business helps sell American goods, especially agricultural goods, to China. There is even a chance of an electronic payment alliance with Apple Pay happening in the near future.

Along with CEO’s, the conference also featured a few entrepreneurs. One of them was Rabed Ziuod, the Vice President of business development for Voice Itt. Voice Itt is an Israeli technology company focused on voice translation technology. At the conference they demonstrated their newest app, Talk Itt which uses technology to help people with disabilities communicate, specifically targeting those with ALS, Parkinsons and Autism. The Talk Itt app memorizes the users speech patterns to help sort of translate what they are saying. Rabed is extra passionate about this project because two of his five siblings suffer from disabilities. This innovative technology along with Rabed’s passion made this app a crowd favorite. It was chosen as the audience’s favorite startup.

Google also had a presence at the conference. Google’s Andrew Conrad, head of Life Sciences talked about the one of Google X team’s newest projects. The Google X team has been working hard to create a tool that helps provide early detection of cancer. They are using nanotechnology, tiny magnetic particles, that once inside you will seek out and attach themselves to cells and send back data. They are still working out all of the details on how to read the data and power the wearable device that goes along with it. This project is still about five to seven years from being available, but will hopefully change the way we screen for cancer. 

These were just a few of the many speakers at the conference. If you would like more information I have posted a link (below) to the WSJ page where you can find more summaries and short videos. If you’re thinking about attending next year’s conference, you may want to start saving now. Tickets were said to cost about $5000. One reported noted that this did come with some fancy dinners and a nice “swag bag”. The price may be worth it for a short Californian getaway and and the opportunity to be inspired by some of the brightest minds in technology.

Jessa

http://wsjdlive.wsj.com

Wedding Planning: There's an app for that!

Getting married?  Why not make the process a little easier and more cost effective through technology.  Weddings and their planning are becoming more and more incorporated into social media. I’m not talking about getting married online.  I’m talking about apps and websites that aid in your planning and communication with guests.  I told my fiance when we got engaged that I would not be the absentee guy and that I would help as much as I can with the planning process.  Being a bit of a nerd, I wanted to be able to incorporate technology as much as possible.  There are a plethora of applications and websites out there that couples can depend on.   For sake of saving time and space, I’m going to talk about the couple that we are currently using.

The first application that we latched on to is a free download called The Knot.  While The Knot is primarily used for weddings, it can be used for couples moving in together or having a child. The Knot sets out a timeline for your planning.  It bases the timeline off of what you put in for your wedding date and plans backwards.  The application provides you with a list of types of vendors that you need and gives you results based upon your approximate location.  This is how the company generates income, similar to Google’s AdWords, the application provides context and location based advertisements.  Each vendor that is listed includes user submitted satisfaction and price ratings.  As you go through your planning process, you can utilize a Knot tool called the LookBook look through and ‘favorite’ items similar to using Pinterest.  There are also tools included to help you keep track of your budget, guest list, registries, etc.  There are many applications similar to The Knot including: Ultimate Wedding Planner, OneWed, and a whole slew of others.  Most of these will be available for both Android and Apple through your app store.

One other very cool application that I came across by accident is called WedPics.  If you’re anything like me, you've gone to a lot of weddings, taken a lot of pictures on your smartphone, and deleted them a few weeks later knowing that you’ll never use or share them.  WedPics offers a couple of different functions, but is primarily a tool used to gather pictures from your wedding guests.  This is also a free download through your app store on either Android or Apple.  Once you download the application and set up your profile, you share your profile via many different channels including email or Facebook.  Once guests have access, they can share any of those pictures with the couple through the application.  This is a big time and effort saver in getting photos from your friends.   Outside of picture sharing, guests can access your wedding registries, hotel accommodations that you've saved blocks for, and even order prints straight from your WedPics albums.

So, if you’re planning a wedding, don’t forget the power and capability of technology.

Links:

http://www.theknot.com/

https://wedpics.com/?q=fbtab

http://www.onewed.com/

Posted by Eric Sitzmann

VIURUSES

Viruses, when you think of this word, what comes to mind?   Sickness? Disease? Illness?  Imagine all of these dreadful things inhabiting your computer, laptop, or smart device rather than your body.  No one wants to be ill and they especially don’t want their devices to be ill.

I personally have been involved with computers since 1998, repairing, diagnosing, training, installing software, even a system administrator.  Viruses are a computer program capable of attaching itself to disks or other files and replicates itself repeatedly, typically without user knowledge or permission.

Hopefully you have heard of computer viruses and the devastation they can cause businesses and individuals, but if you haven’t,  I will tell you about different types of viruses, the ways in which they can be sent, and the computer devices they can attack.  Computer viruses affect every one of us using technology today and come at us in many different forms, can be disguised in many ways, and can attack all types of computer devices.

There are different kinds of virus threats that can affect our computers.  Computer viruses in existence exceeded one million. I have listed the three most popular ones that are being used today.

1.      Worms: They are reproducing programs that run completely independently and spread on their own will through network connections.

2.      Trojan Horses: Are malicious programs pretending to be legitimate programs and purposely do something that the user doesn’t expect.

3.      Logic Bomb: It is a type of Trojan horse that executes when specific conditions occur.

There are a lot of different ways in which viruses are disguised, or how the creator delivers their virus so the intended victim doesn’t know it’s coming.  Here are a few ways viruses are distributed.

1.      Email:

a.       You get an email from a friend or a known acquaintance and open a word document you think is legitimate.

b.      Spam mail you get from a recognizable company.

2.      Drive By

a.       According to the article on the FBI website dated August 2012, I accessed on the 18th of October 2014, this one can install itself when users simply click on a compromised website. Once infected, the victim’s computer immediately locks, and the monitor displays a screen stating there has been a violation of federal law. The bogus message goes on to say that the user’s Internet address was identified by the FBI or the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section as having been associated with child pornography sites or other illegal online activity. To unlock their machines, users are required to pay a fine using a prepaid money card service.

3.      Security tools:

a.       Security programs

b.      Scanning programs

4.      Software:

a.       Purchased from a retail store.

b.      Purchased online.

 Think about the new technology and what you, your family, and friends, own or want to own;  Smart phones, IPads, Tablets, Cars, Smart TV’s, Gaming devices, or even Robots.

These viruses and the delivery methods used not only affect our computers but can affect all of the devices we have. According to Brad Chicos in the2013 edition of PC World, I accessed on the 17^th day of October 2014, hackers can even attack your web connected printer to gain access to previously printed documents.

As I told you earlier, I have been servicing computers since 1998 and the amounts of problems I have seen because of viruses are too many to mention.  New technology has brought us a long way in just a short period of time.   Make sure you are safe out there with all new technology and let’s enjoy the ride.

Posted By: Jeff Trangsrud

The Cloud

What is the Cloud?

The current joke is that no one really understands the cloud. Is it in the sky? Is it white and fluffy? The cloud, also known as cloud computing has been around since the early 2000’s and is quickly becoming a popular tool for both business and recreation. There is a good chance you’ve used cloud computing already today. Some of the most popular examples include: iCloud, Netflix, Google Drive, DropBox and Yahoo mail.  Without getting too specific, I will explain the basics of the cloud while highlighting the benefits and possible weaknesses.

Cloud computing involves a networked group of large remote servers that allow you online access to computer services. In other words, its internet based computing. This includes access from any device, often including smart phones and can involve multiple users accessing the same data at the same time. It includes both software and services that run on the internet instead of your computer. All of your cloud data is stored in massive data centers all over the world instead of on your hard drive. Often cloud computing is done through licensing, so the user may pay for it as they need it. This makes it more of a service than the classic way of purchasing software.

Cloud computing has been divided into three categories or service models: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) . These differ depending on what types of software or service you need. The service provider can offer to manage anything from servers, networking, web hosting, and storage to applications. The goal is to choose which service model best fits you or your business.

Cloud computing has become popular for a variety of reasons. The first reason is cost. Up front costs are much cheaper because you are not buying an expensive software package and installing it on your computer. Instead you may be buying some sort of license and paying as you need the service. Software is no longer an asset you depreciate on your books, but rather a service. Cloud computing lessens the need for in house IT expertise. Because it can be accessed from anywhere there is no need to have someone in house that can fix it. Maintenance or adjustments can be done from multiple locations and by more than one person at a time. Cloud computing saves local storage space. Because everything is stored in a data center somewhere, there is no need to store it on your devices. This method is also greener because of its lack of hardware. The flexibility is a big benefit of cloud computing. Everything is available on almost any device, many people can work on the same set of data at once (for example google drive), and data will sync between your different devices without any effort on your part. For example you can start watching a show on Netflix at home and when you log on later that day on your phone, it will start you right where you left off.

One of the only downsides is that cloud computing requires you to trust someone else with your data. This requires a huge amount of trust in your cloud computing service provider that they will keep your data save and confidential. There have been a few instances where information was compromised because of cloud computing, but for the most part, providers work extremely hard to maintain the integrity and safety of your data.

Overall cloud computing, though confusing to understand, can be very advantageous for you or your business. It can save you money, storage space and time. So if all of this sounds good, and you can find a service provider you trust, it may be time to switch on over to cloud computing.

Jessa